Session 7: January 29, 2008

Intellectual Property

Quote of the Day

"Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door." ~ Anonymous

Summary

Intellectual Property is the lynchpin of a technology venture. Whereas old economy businesses built value in the form of factories and equipment, new economy businesses create the lion share of their value in intangibles; patents, copyrights, trade secrets and trademarks. An effective entrepreneur knows how to establish these key assets, and how to use them with investors, partners and competitors. In this case we learn how Jeff Hawkins cleverly developed crucial intellectual property that paved the way for launching his own business, Palm Computing, and revolutionizing the world of hand-held computing.

 

The extended portion of the session helps to focus the student teams on their Opportunity Analysis Project. It gives the rest of the class a chance to appreciate the various projects underway while providing a reality check for the team itself. It also provides a way to sharpen presentation skills in a time-compressed situation by explaining what is special about the proposed business opportunity under study.

Required Readings (Policy on Required Readings.)

• Readings from the Textbooks:
• The Monk and the Riddle by Randy Komisar, Chapters 4-10
• Technology Ventures (Dorf and Byers): Ch 9 Knowledge, Learning and Design; Ch 10  Legal Formation and Intellectual Property (Highlights: 9.3; 10.3-10.8)
• Case:
• Palm Computing (A)  (in course reader)
• Web Reading:
  • "US Office Joins an Effort to Improve Software Patents" - NYT 1/10/06
• Watch the following short video clips:
  • Jeff Hawkins (PalmOne) - Genesis of Palm Computing
• John Hennessey (Stanford) - Observations on the Biotech and Biomedical Devices Space
• Katharine Ku (Stanford OTL) - Royalties and Patents

Study Questions (Policy on Study Questions.)

• What is a patent? What is a copyright? What are primary differences between the two, and when would you choose one over the other?
• What is a trade secret? How do you establish one? How do your protect it?
• Are trademarks valuable to technology companies? Give an example of why or why not?
• What is the difference between an assignment and a license? What are the critical issues to be defined in negotiating either?

Team Online Assignment (Policy on Online Assignments.)

Assume Jeff offers Tandy "first access" to the consumer product and a minority stake in Palm in return for the "C language" enhancements, and that Tandy rebuffs him.  Should Jeff proceed without Tandy's intellectual property or should he work harder to arrive at a deal? What are the risks to Palm inherent in each path? How far would you go in your offer to Tandy? Why do you ultimately come to your conclusion?

 

OAP Assignment (Policy on Online Assignments.)

Present Your Positioning Statement. See the milestones section of the OAP project page for a full description of the assignment.

Recommended Readings (Policy on Recommended Readings. List of readings)

• If you have the time, and want a good read - Piloting Palm, The Inside Story of Palm, Handspring and the Birth of the Billion-Dollar Handheld Industry, by Andrea Butter and David Pogue.